Republicans prepare to pass Obamacare Lite

Do you remember when Gutless On Principles (GOP) Hall of Shame enshrinee Mitch McConnell said Obamacare was “a job-killer,” “too expensive,” and will do “colossal damage” to the economy? Do you remember how he promised to pull it out “root and branch” and “start over?” If not, you can be forgiven because apparently he doesn’t remember saying it either.

As we approach the decision by the Supreme Court on whether or not federal subsidies paid to states that declined to set up insurance exchanges violated the Affordable Care Act (King v. Burwell), the McConnell-led Senate appears ready to provide the subsidies in a Republican in a type of “Obamacare Lite.”

Here’s how it looks like it’s going down.

If the Supremes interpret the Affordable Care Act literally, it will compel the federal government to end subsidy payments to millions of Obamacare beneficiaries. This would result in higher insurance costs—even higher than consumers are already seeing WITH Obamacare—and an increase in the number of uninsured.

Now, the Republican cowards in Congress have been counting on the courts to do this job for them ever since the un-Affordable Care Act became law. So a court decision repealing these subsidies would be good news for those who want to end Obamacare, right?

You’d think so, but you’d be wrong. The GOP are preparing a backstop in the even that the Supreme Court strips the subsidies. Sadly, this backstop bears a striking similarity to the existing subsidy structure already provided for under Obamacare.

Quick to defend their capitulation, some of the McConnell cheerleading team are lining up their talking points. In an interview with Reuters, Orrin Hatch (R-INO UT)—another Gutless On Principles (GOP) Hall of Shame member—said it this way:

“It’s not going to be like Obamacare, in my opinion. It’s not a literal subsidy…”

If it’s not a “literal” subsidy, it has to be a virtual one, which is appropriate, because Mitch McConnell isn’t a literal leader. His leadership, his agenda, and his ability to stop Obama are nothing more than the virtual reality we’ve come to know from the RINO insiders roaming the halls of the Capitol.